5-year-old boy drowns on trip to Disneyland Paris
December 27, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
How did 5-year-old Colum Canning fall into a pool at a Disneyland Paris hotel during a Christmas trip? Colum, who was autistic, was discovered in the pool by another guest, who pulled him out; he had already lost consciousess when he was taken to a hospital, where he died, today’s SkyNews reports.
Colum was just a typical wee boy who was so happy, so loving and so full of energy,
said Colum’s parents, Karen Canning and David Bradley of Derry, in a statement, and may he be remembered just like that.
I continue to be suspicious of these types of incidents. If the child wasn’t autistic, we would here of an investigation.
I wonder if any parent would take their eyes off their 5 year old child in a situation like this? I’m dubious of these circumstances. I think these parents purposely lost track of their son, perhaps even knowing he would go to the pool. This may sound outlandish, but what parent would let down their guard under this type of circumstance? Especially if the child has a history of running off?
Poor baby
It only takes a minute for a child to drown. As much as a parent tries to keep an eye on a child 24/7, it’s simply not possible. I was at the zoo with Chris (my baby brother), he managed to get away from us. He was lost for two minutes before we found him at the exit to the bat house. Anything could have happened in that time period- and no, neither I nor my mother were being neglectful. We had our eyes off of him for a matter of seconds. That’s all it takes.
I guess I’ve been thinking, regardless of whatever Colum’s parents are said to have said, they’ve lost their child, and that’s not going to change.
My heart goes out to Colum’s family and friends.
Here is my routine to deal with my “Jesse Owens” bolter: If we go anywhere in public, my little one holds my hand the entire time. If we are in a park, he can run and do whatever he wishes as long as he stays in view, which requires me to also run a bit at times.
Every week during the school year (when the park is open), my son gets a reward visit to Carowinds on Saturday if he strings together 5 “awesome” school days in a row. Carowinds is like a Six Flags for those unfamiliar. He holds my hand the entire time we are walking around the park.
“”Karen had only turned around to fetch a camera to take a picture of our three children and when she turned she could only see two faces.”
In a matter of minutes, Colum managed to find the pool and drown. The article makes no mention if the other children were non verbal or not. If they were NT kids, one of them probably would have yelled “Mom, Colum’s running away” or something. Intead, she said that when she turned back around to take the picture, Colum was missing. Whenever a child goes missing and is found basically dead, an investigation should be common police procedure. Perhaps one was done in this circumstance, the article doesn’t mention it. I can’t think of a circumstance where any parent of an autistic child has been under suspicion when their child bolts and drowns (and it always happens in a manner of minutes), I think its assumed it was an accident because after all, the child’s autistic, that’s all that needs to be known. That’s how I feel when I read these stories.
Yes, its true, Colums parent’s have lost their child and if the circumstances are truthful, then my conjecture isn’t very nice and is hurtful. I’d just like to make sure that all the little Colum’s out there that are found in a pool, pond etc drowned, are fully investigated for foul play. It may be truthful what Colum’s parents have said, that Colum bolted and drowned. But could his drowning have been caused by the man that found him? You never know. Everything in this type of circumstance should be investigated, Colum and all victims deserve that.
Ok, I decided to check out this story further. There are some huge gaping differences between what the mother said happened and what the aunt said happened.
She said Colum had been playing with his brother when the accident occurred.
“They were playing down on the ground floor of the hotel at a play area, as children do, when my sister-in-law lost sight of him for a second … and she ran searching for him, ” she said.
That conflicts with the mother’s account, where she just turned around for a camera and when she turned back to take the picture, Colum was gone.
According to a friend of the mother:
“She’s always so protective with the children, she always had the two of them by the hand and always knows what they’re at, never ever has she let them out of her sight.”
Neighbors say both Colum and his brother Kiernan were autistic. Various newspapers report they were left alone in the play area of the hotel.
A dutch newspaper quotes the French prosecutor’s office as being suspicious of the circumstances because the pool was apparently in use by several guests of the hotel and no one saw Colum jump in.
There is an investigation ongoing and will take at least 10 days according to several news sources.
thanks for more information, CS—–Charlie does not want to hold hands with us anymore. But he doesn’t run off, either, and he knows to stop for cars.